Alan,
I had a similar situation with a power supply from an HP scope. In my
case, some of the electrolytics were overheating to the extent that
electrolyte had leaked out onto the PCB and was sizzling. I removed all
of the questionable caps, and since I do not own an ESR meter, I tested
the leakage current of each cap at the rated voltage. There were 2-3
caps with significantly worse leakage than the others, and I replaced
those. But first (and more importantly), I thoroughly cleaned the area
of the PCB of all electrolyte. The electrolyte on the PCB was conducting
current between two adjacent traces, and the excessive load was pulling
down the supply. The traces were still OK, so no repair was necessary
other than cleaning. After cleaning the board and replacing the bad
caps, the unit worked perfectly.
I don't know if a leakage test is a substitute for a proper ESR test,
but it may be a quick check you can do without special equipment.
-Randall
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Subject:
> [volt-nuts] Keithley 2001 Multimeter Fault - Update
> From:
> "Alan Scrimgeour" <scrimgap at blueyonder.co.uk>
> Date:
> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:46:51 -0000
> To:
> "Discussion of precise voltage measurement" <volt-nuts at febo.com>
>> To:
> "Discussion of precise voltage measurement" <volt-nuts at febo.com>
>>> Here's a progress report:
> Searching for a possible short circuited tantalum capacitor I tried to identify if any were connected to the 5V output of the overheating regulator. None on the visible side of the analogue pcb were. I dived in and removed the pcb and did a similar search of the tants on the rear. One, located right next to the regulator was connected. I replaced and tested it. It was a bit leaky, but ok, and the replacement made no difference.
> I started probing around with a thermocouple looking for overheating chips connected to the 5V supply, but couldn't spot any. Then I accidently discovered that 5 electrolytics in the vicinity of the overheating 5V regulator were also overheating. Unfortunately the pcb does have buried layers so it's not easy to tell what connects to what, and I cant get to connections on the rear of the pcb when it's powered up, so the whole process is proving rather frustrating. I think I'll try removing the electrolytics and if they're still ok, putting them back on long wire legs to allow me to access the powered up connections.
> Any bright ideas welcome!
>> Alan
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Subject:
> Re: [volt-nuts] Keithley 2001 Multimeter Fault - Update
> From:
> Brooke Clarke <brooke at pacific.net>
> Date:
> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:53:47 -0700
> To:
> Discussion of precise voltage measurement <volt-nuts at febo.com>
>> To:
> Discussion of precise voltage measurement <volt-nuts at febo.com>
>>> Hi Alan:
>> I'm importing and selling a combined ESR and capacitance meter. See:
>http://www.prc68.com/P/Prod.html#ESR <- ordering
>http://www.prc68.com/I/ESRmicro.shtml <- description
>http://www.prc68.com/I/Capacitors.shtml <- measured results using a
> number of instruments
>> Have Fun,
>> Brooke Clarke
>http://www.PRC68.com>>> Alan Scrimgeour wrote:
>> Here's a progress report:
>> Searching for a possible short circuited tantalum capacitor I tried
>> to identify if any were connected to the 5V output of the overheating
>> regulator. None on the visible side of the analogue pcb were. I dived
>> in and removed the pcb and did a similar search of the tants on the
>> rear. One, located right next to the regulator was connected. I
>> replaced and tested it. It was a bit leaky, but ok, and the
>> replacement made no difference.
>> I started probing around with a thermocouple looking for overheating
>> chips connected to the 5V supply, but couldn't spot any. Then I
>> accidently discovered that 5 electrolytics in the vicinity of the
>> overheating 5V regulator were also overheating. Unfortunately the pcb
>> does have buried layers so it's not easy to tell what connects to
>> what, and I cant get to connections on the rear of the pcb when it's
>> powered up, so the whole process is proving rather frustrating. I
>> think I'll try removing the electrolytics and if they're still ok,
>> putting them back on long wire legs to allow me to access the powered
>> up connections.
>> Any bright ideas welcome!
>>>> Alan
>> _______________________________________________
>> volt-nuts mailing list -- volt-nuts at febo.com>> To unsubscribe, go to
>>https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volt-nuts>> and follow the instructions there.
>>>>>>>>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Subject:
> Re: [volt-nuts] Keithley 2001 Multimeter Fault - Update
> From:
> Robert Atkinson <robert8rpi at yahoo.co.uk>
> Date:
> Tue, 16 Mar 2010 07:44:25 +0000 (GMT)
> To:
> Discussion of precise voltage measurement <volt-nuts at febo.com>
>> To:
> Discussion of precise voltage measurement <volt-nuts at febo.com>
>>> Hi Alan,
> Have you put a 'scope on the 5V rail? overheating capacitors could be a sign of an unstable (oscillating) regulator. I'd just change the hot elecrolytics anyway, they have much reduced lives when they are hot. If you are testing them, you must include an ESR test of some sort (I've no connection to any vendors of ESR meters ;-)
>> Robert G8RPI.
>> --- On Mon, 15/3/10, Alan Scrimgeour <scrimgap at blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
>>> From: Alan Scrimgeour <scrimgap at blueyonder.co.uk>
> Subject: [volt-nuts] Keithley 2001 Multimeter Fault - Update
> To: "Discussion of precise voltage measurement" <volt-nuts at febo.com>
> Date: Monday, 15 March, 2010, 21:46
>>> Here's a progress report:
> Searching for a possible short circuited tantalum capacitor I tried to identify if any were connected to the 5V output of the overheating regulator. None on the visible side of the analogue pcb were. I dived in and removed the pcb and did a similar search of the tants on the rear. One, located right next to the regulator was connected. I replaced and tested it. It was a bit leaky, but ok, and the replacement made no difference.
> I started probing around with a thermocouple looking for overheating chips connected to the 5V supply, but couldn't spot any. Then I accidently discovered that 5 electrolytics in the vicinity of the overheating 5V regulator were also overheating. Unfortunately the pcb does have buried layers so it's not easy to tell what connects to what, and I cant get to connections on the rear of the pcb when it's powered up, so the whole process is proving rather frustrating. I think I'll try removing the electrolytics and if they're still ok, putting them back on long wire legs to allow me to access the powered up connections.
> Any bright ideas welcome!
>> Alan
> _______________________________________________
> volt-nuts mailing list -- volt-nuts at febo.com> To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volt-nuts> and follow the instructions there.
>>>>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Subject:
> Re: [volt-nuts] Keithley 2001 Multimeter Fault - Update
> From:
> "Alan Scrimgeour" <scrimgap at blueyonder.co.uk>
> Date:
> Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:47:09 -0000
> To:
> "Discussion of precise voltage measurement" <volt-nuts at febo.com>
>> To:
> "Discussion of precise voltage measurement" <volt-nuts at febo.com>
>>> I think you're right, but the capacitors in question don't connect to
> the 5V regulator (well, maybee one) so things are more complicated. By
> proximity they appear mostly to be connected to bridge rectifiers. I
> guess an oscillating regulator could put a high ripple current through
> a capacitor on its input too.
> . I've tested the overheating electrolytics and they all seem ok
> (ignoring unknown ESR), but under a couple there's corrosion. There's
> also possibly some heat damage to the pcb at one point that needs a
> much closer look. I hope it's just more corrosion.
> Unfortunately my scopes dead, which I'll have to sort that out, but
> for now my meters ac range and frequency measurement mode should tell
> me what I need to know.
>> Alan
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Atkinson"
> <robert8rpi at yahoo.co.uk>
> To: "Discussion of precise voltage measurement" <volt-nuts at febo.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 7:44 AM
> Subject: Re: [volt-nuts] Keithley 2001 Multimeter Fault - Update
>>> Hi Alan,
> Have you put a 'scope on the 5V rail? overheating capacitors could be
> a sign of an unstable (oscillating) regulator. I'd just change the hot
> elecrolytics anyway, they have much reduced lives when they are hot.
> If you are testing them, you must include an ESR test of some sort
> (I've no connection to any vendors of ESR meters ;-)
>> Robert G8RPI.
>> --- On Mon, 15/3/10, Alan Scrimgeour <scrimgap at blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
>>> From: Alan Scrimgeour <scrimgap at blueyonder.co.uk>
> Subject: [volt-nuts] Keithley 2001 Multimeter Fault - Update
> To: "Discussion of precise voltage measurement" <volt-nuts at febo.com>
> Date: Monday, 15 March, 2010, 21:46
>>> Here's a progress report:
> Searching for a possible short circuited tantalum capacitor I tried to
> identify if any were connected to the 5V output of the overheating
> regulator. None on the visible side of the analogue pcb were. I dived
> in and removed the pcb and did a similar search of the tants on the
> rear. One, located right next to the regulator was connected. I
> replaced and tested it. It was a bit leaky, but ok, and the
> replacement made no difference.
> I started probing around with a thermocouple looking for overheating
> chips connected to the 5V supply, but couldn't spot any. Then I
> accidently discovered that 5 electrolytics in the vicinity of the
> overheating 5V regulator were also overheating. Unfortunately the pcb
> does have buried layers so it's not easy to tell what connects to
> what, and I cant get to connections on the rear of the pcb when it's
> powered up, so the whole process is proving rather frustrating. I
> think I'll try removing the electrolytics and if they're still ok,
> putting them back on long wire legs to allow me to access the powered
> up connections.
> Any bright ideas welcome!
>> Alan
> _______________________________________________
> volt-nuts mailing list -- volt-nuts at febo.com> To unsubscribe, go to
>https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volt-nuts> and follow the instructions there.
>>>>> _______________________________________________
> volt-nuts mailing list -- volt-nuts at febo.com> To unsubscribe, go to
>https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volt-nuts> and follow the instructions there.
>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> _______________________________________________
> volt-nuts mailing list
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